My g-g-grandfather was a liberal too! It's in my genes!

[flyingfysh]

2. I have Quaker ancestors

They lived in Salem MA in the 1640s and were constantly having trouble with the Puritans, who were constantly dragging them into court and fining them for not attending the Puritan services.

Another ancestor was a slave owner (he owned two), who went off to fight in the Civil War. Part way through, he changed sides, and wound up fighting in the Union Cavalry.

After he left, his wife died, and three children were being cared for by 2 slaves. There is a family story about how when food was getting scarce, Sally (one of the slaves) climbed a tree under which wild pigs would nest at night. In the middle of the night, she climbed down with a hatchet, killed one, and quickly retreated up the tree. In morning, after the other pigs left, she was able to get the dead pig back home for food.

My grandfather remembered her from when he was a 5-year-old boy. He remembered her (quite old by then) sitting in the kitchen, smoking a corncob pipe.

In addition to all this, another branch of my family has Choctaw Indians.